Buggy-top support



Patented Feb. 28

T. H. MAYFIELD. auaev TOP SUPPORT.

A ucaeion filed. Oct. 29, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. MAYFIELD, OF ROBY, TEXAS.

BUGGY-TOP SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,340, dated February 28, 1899.

Application filed October 29, 1898. Serial No. 694,952. (No model.)

Support, of which the following is a specifi-e cation.

This invention relates to folding vehicle-l top attachments, and has for its object to provide a spring-support for the vehicletop bows when the latter are in folded position.

To this end the present invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a folding vehicle-top with the spring-support applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, showing the top in folded position. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of the support, illustrating the man nor of mounting thereof. Fig. tis a longitudinal sectional View taken through the propbolt.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the bows of the vehicle-top, pivoted to the body of the vehicle at 2, and 3 designates the usual brace or prop, pivoted to the prop-bolt 4 at one end and to the top at its other end and provided with a hingejoint 5 intermediate its ends. This is the ordinary construction and arrangement of folding vehicle-tops.

The present invention consists in the provision of the spring-support 6, mounted upon the prop-bolt 4: and engaging the rear bow 1 and provided with a stop 7, whereby the backward movement of the support is limited. The support consists of an arm having at its upper end an approximately U-shaped clip 8, in which is mounted a grooved wheel 9, which is adapted to travel upon one of the bows in the operation of the device. An eye 10 is formed in the arm near its lower end and the transverse stop-lug 7 is provided at the lower end of the supporting-arm. The support is mounted upon the prop-bolt by means of a sleeve 12, having an annular flange or rim 13 near its inner end, beyond which bolt and the end of the sleeve 12.

the sleeve is reduced to form a pivot 14, which is adapted to receive the eye of the supporting-arm. The prop-bo1t4 is squared for the greater part of its length, and the sleeve 12 is provided with a similarly-shaped bore, so that the sleeve will be fixedly mounted upon said bolt. The protruding portion of the bolt is rounded, as at 15, and the brace 3 is pivotally mounted upon this rounded portion and is confined between the head 16 of the To provide a tension for the supporting-arm, a coiled spring 17 is arranged about the sleeve 12, having one end 18 hooked about the rear side of the supporting-arm just above the eye thereof and its other end 19 hooked about the front side of the brace 3. The purpose of the flange 13 is to hold the arm in its place and prevent it moving longitudinally upon the sleeve against the spring.

As shown in Fig. 1, the support is mounted upon the prop-bolt and is of a length to reach beyond the middle of the rear bow 1 and form an additional brace for the bows. When the top is folded back, the supporting-arm is also forced backward, its friction-roller 9 traveling along the bow and the coiled spring preventing the sudden stopping and jarring of the top. The arm is of a length to reach to or nearly to the end of the bow, so that the point ofsupport may be as near as possible to the extreme end of the top, which supports said top in a more effective manner than if it were nearer the pivotal point of the bows. The purpose of the stop 7 is to engage under the usual shifting rail 20 to prevent the top from being thrown down against the prop-bolt 4 both when folding the top and when the same is in folded position. It will be understood that the tension of the coiled spring supports the bows away from the prop-bolt, and by reason of the stop engaging under the shifting rail and the friction-roller extending above the arm in the folded position of the top the bows cannot at any time strike the prop-bolt. The supporting-arm is conveniently mounted upon the prop-bolt in a simple manner and inside of the brace for thebows, so that it is entirely out of the way and does not interfere with the use of the top. Oneof these supports is provided for each side of the top to support the latter evenly upon both sides.

an arm having a friction-roller and a bear-' ing-eye, a sleeve fixedly mounted upon the prop-bolt, the arm being pivoted, by means of its bearing-eye, upon the sleeve, the propbrace being mounted at the outer end of the prop-bolt, and a coiled spring arranged on the sleeve and having one terminal engaging the arm against its rear side, and its other terminal the prop-brace, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination with a folding vehicletop, of a sleeve having an annular flange near its inner end and fixedly mounted upon the prop-bolt, an arm pivoted upon-the inner end of the sleeve against the flange thereof and adapted to slidably engage one of the bows of the top, the prop of the top being pivoted upon the outer end of the prop-bolt between the head thereof and the end of the sleeve, and a coiled spring arranged about the sleeve engaging the arm against its rear side at one end and the front side of the prop at its other end, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination with a folding vehicletop, of a spring-support therefor comprising an arm having a frictional roller, at one end, a transverse stop shoulder or lug at its other end, and a bearing-eye formed intermediate its ends, a sleeve fixedly mounted upon the prop-bolt and having an annular flange near its inner end, said arm being pivoted upon the inner end of the sleeve against the flange thereof, and the prop or brace being pivoted upon the end of the prop-bolt between the head thereof and the outer end of the sleeve, and a coiled spring arranged about the sleeve engaging the arm against its rear side at one end and the front side of the prop at its other end, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS H. MAYFIELD.

Witnesses: I

J. W. PLUNKETT, L. H. MOOREA. 

